The herein disclosed invention find applicability in the field of cleaning agents. More particularly, the cleaning compositions of the herein disclosed invention find applicability for cleaning surfaces of inks of various formulations and more particularly as a pressroom cleaner.
There is a need in the field of cleaning agents and particularly in the field cleaning agents for efficiently removing printing inks from solid surfaces as well as from the hands and other parts of the body. The cleaning compositions must be environmentally friendly, and they must be able to safely clean a variety of inks. Disposal in a legal fashion, preferably down the waste water drain, without pretreatment is clearly desirable, as is the requirement for biodegradability.
Prior art inks can be solvent based, soy or other vegetable oil based, or water based. In recent times, the printing presses of American newspapers have been moving toward the use of soy based inks, due to health and environmental safety issues. Once the inks have been removed from the presses, walls, floors, etc., the effluent must be able to be easily disposed of, preferably down the drain, without causing problems with the water treatment plant. This disposal problem could arise from the use of alkali builders which cause a high pH or the use of cleaning agents with ingredients that are not biodegradable.
Presently, many cleaners being used are of high pH, contain ethylene glycol ethers, or if they contain a natural citrus solvent, they are generally not stable emulsions. The pH of cleaning compositions is a problem, because water treatment plants do not want to accept such a high pH effluent as it interferes with water treatment processes, often killing useful bacteria, causing waste to go untreated, or in addition, damaging equipment because of corrosivity. The use of ethylene glycol ethers presents a problem to workers who may inhale this toxic product or absorb it through the skin. The body has difficulty breaking down ethylene glycol ethers and thus may cause the formation of toxic compounds. Propylene glycol ethers are much safer, but to be effective, the amount of propylene glycol ether or ethylene glycol ether is usually quite high, leading to an end result of high VOC (volatile organic compound) content. VOC""s are now regulated nationally by the EPA and, VOC content may also be regulated by state and local governments. Finally, the use of citrus terpenes, or d-limonene, although used by some manufacturers, has resulted in unstable emulsions with high pH""s. The present invention seeks to eliminate these problems.
Prior Art Patents
Lucas et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,690) teaches a low toxicity solvent cleaning composition containing tripropylene glycol methyl ether (col. 3, line 3), and d-limonene (col. 3, line 25). However, Lucas et al is not pertinent to the herein disclosed invention in that Lucas et al does not teach the use of a microemulsion and does not include water.
Weltman et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,808) teaches an organic solvent cleaning solution. Among the ingredients of the cleaning composition are propylene glycol methyl ether; and further the composition is useful as a cleaning agent for dyes. This reference, like Lucas et al, is deficient in not providing for water in the cleaning composition.
Principato (U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,493) teaches compositions for cleaning ink. The composition can contain d-limonene (col. 5, line 33), propylene glycol monomethyl ether (col. 6, line 51). The herein disclosed invention is distinct from Principato in that Principato does not provide for a microemulsion and actually teaches against the use of water.
VanEenam (U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,710) discloses a stable aqueous cleaner/degreaser formulated in the form of a microemulsion. Included in the composition are dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (col. 5, line 65), triethanolamine (col. 5, line 67), and monoethanolamine (col. 7, line 56). Note that at col. 23, Example 29 discloses a cleaner containing monoethanolamine, tripropyleneglycol monomethyl ether, dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, water and defoamer. The cleaner of the herein disclosed invention is distinct from VanEanam in that VanEanam depends on the use of alkali builders in his product. On the other hand, the cleaning composition of the herein disclosed invention functions at a neutral pH.
Objects of the Invention
A main object of this invention is the formulation of a cleaning composition which will efficiently clean printing inks.
A further object of this invention is to produce a composition for removing ink from the hands, as well as, from printing equipment such as rollers.
A significant object of this invention is to produce a cleaning composition composed mainly of low volatility components.
An important object of this invention is to produce a composition which does not pollute the environment.
The invention is directed to a cleaning composition and, more particularly, to an ink cleaning composition containing effective amounts of: water, d-limonene, propylene glycol methyl ether, anionic detergent emulsifier (mix of C8-C18 sulfonated surfactant), dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid, mono ethanolamine, dye, and defoamer. The composition can be used as a pressroom cleaner for removing ink from hands, presses, as well as, from walls and floors. The cleaning product of this invention can be used in a variety of print shops, on a variety of inks.
The inventor has found the cleaning composition of this invention to be effective for cleaning inks used by various newspapers. The newspaper inks tested were mainly oil based, soy based and reacted soy methyl ester based. The colors were colors such as black, blue, red and magenta. Besides being able to clean ink, the cleaning composition can effectively clean grease, grime, soap scum, nicotine stains as well as other soiled surfaces.
The cleaning composition may have d-limonene replaced with dibasic esters (DBE) such as dimethyl adipate, dimethyl glutarate and/or dimethyl succinate as well as terpenes such as pine oil terpene (CAS 8002-02-3). A mixture of d-limonene and dibasic esters has been found to be operative. For example, d-limonene may be partially or completely replaced by an equal amount of a dibasic ester selected from the group consisting of dimenthyl adipate, dimethyl glutarate, dimethyl succinate and mixtures thereof; and the terpene in the same amount replaces all or part of the d-limonene.
Throughout the disclosure the terms cleaning composition, ink-cleaning composition and cleaning formulation are used interchangeably.